Physics, Zen and the art of skateboarding"[...] On the second floor of the maze-like interior of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, there is an office unlike any other in the building. [...]"

It’s always sunny in Waterloo, according to Mayor Brenda Halloran’s annual state of the city address which focused on the positives of the past year including $450 million in new building permits taken out in 2011 and building cranes doting the skyline.

Though a number of city councillors lauded the citizens’ budget task force for its detailed report into how to save the city cash, they didn’t back up their words with a commitment to extend the group’s mandate past budget day on Feb.13.